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Day: October 30, 2010

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Art, Events, ,

Art at ASU – “Open for Business”

Arizona State University Art Museum & Downtown Tempe Businesses under curator John D. Spiak presents “Open for Business” from October 8, 2010 through January 29, 2011.

Open for Business calls attention to the importance of local artists, businesses and organizations. Simultaneously taking place in downtown Tempe businesses and an interrelated exhibition at the ASU Art Museum, this project features the work of sixteen Valley artists who address the purpose of each business, providing opportunities for audience members to interact with the physical space of each location and to discover, or rediscover, new aspects of their own community.

Individuals will be guided by maps available at the ASU Art Museum to art installations at downtown Tempe business including La Bocca, Rula Bula, Caffé Boa, The Shoe Mill, Brand X Custom T-Shirts, Monti’s La Casa Vieja, Mood Swings Salon, Fascinations, Cartel Coffee Lab, Buffalo Exchange, The Bicycle Cellar, The Headquarters, and Downtown Tempe Community, Inc.

The list of Valley artists participating in the exhibition include both internationally established and rising stars of our community, including Peter Bugg in collaboration with Ryan Peter Miller, Cyndi Coon, Wendy Furman, Jon Haddock, Saskia Jorda, Tania Katan, Mary Lucking, Matthew Mosher, Adam Murray, Marco Rosichelli, Erin V. Sotak, David Tinapple, Chris Todd, Jen Urso, Nic Wiesinger, and Whitney Zamá.

To insure the success and outreach of the project, the ASU Art Museum has partnered with Tempe Chamber of Commerce, Tempe Convention and Visitors Bureau, Downtown Tempe Community (DTC), Local First Arizona, Valley Forward Association, Creative Connect, Comerica Bank (Tempe, Mill), Scottsdale Public Art, and Volunteer Legal Assistance for Artists (VLAA).

Free public lectures, conversations and tours throughout the run of the exhibition

  • Lecture: Trademark Law for Arts/Business (VLAA): Thursday, Nov. 4, 6pm @ Monti’s
  • Friday Conversation @ 11: Tania Katan: Fri., Nov. 5, 11am @ ASUAM
  • Panel Conversation: Open for Business: Tues., Nov. 9, 6pm @ ASUAM
  • Friday Conversation @ 11: Mary Lucking, Saskia Jorda & Erin Sotak, Fri., Nov. 19, 11am @ ASUAM

Tours to be scheduled – look for announcements through the ASUAM blog.

Scottsdale Public Art is organizing the store front project IN FLUX in Downtown Scottsdale that will occur during the same time period. Through this collaboration, both institutions will combine efforts to create cross-over audience and awareness. A map showing all participating locations will be available at locations in Tempe, Scottsdale, the ASU Art Museum and online.

This project is generously supported by a grant from the Tempe Municipal Arts Commission, ASU Art Museum Advisory Board, and the Wilhelmine Prinzen Endowed Fund for Emerging Artists. In-kind support provided by Phoenix NewTimes, Ben Franklin Press, Inc., Melissa McGurgan Design, and Mannington Commercial.

The Arizona State University Art Museum is located at Mill Avenue at 10th Street, Tempe, AZ. More information may be obtained by contacting the museum at 480-965-2787 or by E-mail

Media, Perspective, , , ,

The business cycle – what happens to the entrenched

From the New Yorker: Blockbuster, Netflix, and the future of rentals in The Next Level by James Surowiecki

An interesting read. In a few paragraphs he captures how companies can become entrenched and beholden to a model whose day has passed. Will Netflix be next?

In the nineteen-eighties, a new kind of chain store came to dominate American shopping: the “category killer.” These stores killed off all competition in a category by stocking a near-endless variety of products at prices that small retailers couldn’t match. Across America, independent stores went out of business, and the suburban landscape became freckled with Toys R Us, CompUSA, and Home Depot superstores. But the category killers’ reign turned out to be more fragile than expected. In the past decade, CompUSA and Circuit City have disappeared. Toys R Us has struggled to stay afloat, and Barnes & Noble is in the midst of a boardroom battle prompted by financial woes. And, last month, Blockbuster finally admitted the inevitable and declared Chapter 11.

The obvious reason for all this is the Internet; Blockbuster’s demise, for one, was inextricably linked to the success of Netflix. But this raises a deeper question: why didn’t the category killers colonize the Web the way they colonized suburbia? That was what pundits expected. Companies like Blockbuster, the argument went, had customer expertise, sophisticated inventory management, and strong brands. And, unlike the new Internet companies, they’d be able to offer customers both e-commerce and physical stores—“clicks and mortar.” It seemed like the perfect combination.

The problem—in Blockbuster’s case, at least—was that the very features that people thought were strengths turned out to be weaknesses…

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